Bloggasm

Some long-time readers of Bloggasm might remember that I’m a huge fan of 2-buck Chuck (follow that link to get the whole story behind it) It was a nickname given to Charles Shaw wine because it only costs two dollars a bottle, and on top of that it’s fantastic wine. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “How can wine that’s only $2 a bottle be any good?” Well read the story, and you’ll see why Charles Shaw is a genius in being able to get the best grapes in the country and turn them into wine for very little money.

Anyway, there’s an article whining (no pun intended) about how 2-buck chuck is hurting the wine industry:

WINE selling for just $2 a bottle has been greeted with cheers by drinkers, who happily deride it as “two-buck chuck”. But winemakers and grape growers say such steep discounts are pushing them to the wall.

Woolworths sent shockwaves through the industry last week with special offers of unlabelled, or “cleanskin”, wines selling at less than $2 a bottle at its Dan Murphy’s and BWS liquor outlets.

Dan Murphy’s national merchandise manager, Steve Donohue, said the discounted chardonnay and cabernet merlot, normally sold labelled for $6, met huge demand during the offer.

Mr Donohue said the offer was only possible because the supplier was desperate to offload the wine, even at a loss. “We weren’t exactly cleaning up on it either,” he said.

The move was reminiscent of the “two-buck chuck” wines in the US in 2003, when a glut of Californian grapes led to steep discounting.

But what the article doesn’t tell you is that the reason that 2-buck chuck is even possible is because of the wine industry’s greed. They created a wine boom in the 90s, and then when it died out, they had all these left-over grapes and nothing to do with them.

So go down to your local Trader Joe’s (the only place you can buy 2-buck chuck) and buy yourself a whole case. Every time we go down there, we stock up on several.

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